Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Bach

Yo-Yo Ma revisits the cello suites with a message for modern times and the polish of a showbiz pro.

The title of the latest programme by the Australian Chamber Orchestra is simply: Goldberg Variations. While Bernard Labadie’s ingenious arrangement of JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string orchestra takes up all of the second half of the programme, the first half was no less interesting.

The “Festival Tour” and its three-venue concerts of the Davos Festival programme included almost as many visual and outdoor delights as it did musical treats. 

Angels abound as Rachel Podger joins with VOCES8 for a collaborative exploration built around music from her Guardian Angel album.

Light shines through tears in a concert with a luxurious line-up of VOCES8, the Academey of Ancient Music and Robert Hollingworth at the Milton Abbey Music Festival in Dorset. 

A disparate set of pieces are connected to an intriguing theme in mostly successful performances, including Shostakovich from cellist Alisa Weilerstein.

A generous programme by Alban Gerhardt and Víkingur Ólafsson saw a tale of two halves, with the classical poise of the first half and the more extrovert showpieces of the second. 

Ilya Gringolts and Maxim Vengerov gave world-class performances of landmark pieces by Bach and Bartók, with a generous sprinkling of Prokofiev and Wieniawski giving extra sparkle.

Fourth time's a charm as pianist Igor Levit returns to Birmingham for a tremendous recital. 

Composer-pianist, Vestards Shimkus gives a compelling rendition of his imaginative 9 etudes Dreamscapes, while his Bach-Busoni 9 Chorale Preludes offers more mixed results. 

Lars Vogt and Royal Northern Sinfonia deliver Beethoven's Symphony no. 9 with swaggering self-confidence, and heroic chorus singing.

A taste of the opening weekend in Leipzig’s marathon Bach Festival. 

Imaginative Bach and an exciting new work by Dobrinka Tabakova played by the Amsterdam Sinfonietta with pianists Ferhan and Ferzan Önder.

An impressively well-planned programme of mostly viola transcriptions by Grainger, Bach, Delius, Ellington and Grieg.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Baroque specialists continue their crusade to bring Bach's church cantatas to the modern world.

Hugo Ticciati and Víkingur Ólafsson explore notions of time, but a lesson in mindful performance comes from the gravity-defying Sanddorn Balance act.  

A patchy performance by The Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia in a concert following the influence of J.S. Bach on later choral composers.

The gut strings and period bows of the Chiaroscuro Quartet cast dramatic light and shade movements on from Bach's The Art of Fugue and quartets by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.

Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia explore different sides of Shostakovich in the latest of the Voices of Revolution series.  

As part of their swing through some of America’s top concert halls, Isabelle Faust joined Les Violons du Roy to bring Bach and Handel to Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Benjamin Freemantle danced the opening solo, gorgeously, in the role of the grandfather as a dreamy young Adonis. 

Harry Bicket leads Royal Northern Sinfonia and Chorus and a fine line-up of soloists in a performance that moves effortlessly between the human and eternal time lines of Bach's St John Passion.

A brooding and melancholy presentation of Bach’s masterpiece from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Mark Padmore. 

A rousing Dvořák Symphony no. 8 and that composer’s The Water Sprite filled out a highly satisfying performance.

An enjoyable and vivid performance representing music spanning three centuries of history

Contemporary Ballet is alive, thriving and pushing in Boston

Conductor JoAnn Falletta, violinist Alexi Kenney and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra offer up vibrant and vital interpretations of Boulanger, Mozart and Brahms. 

The latest concert in the LPO's “Changing Faces: Stravinsky’s Journeys” series focussed on storytelling of the symphonic kind. 

With Andris Nelsons about to debut as Kapellmeister at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, a collaboration with his Boston Symphony was inaugurated in style. 

To reach the mother lode of Bach's keyboard music, you have to listen to it on harpsichord, and today, no performer embodies that mother lode more than Mahan Esfahani.

Freire convinces in Bach, but soft attack and heavy pedal use make for flat renditions of romantic works.

Warsaw Philharmonic celebrates the 100th anniversary of Polish independence with performances of great local composers – Lutoslawski, Szymanowski and Szabelski – and Debussy’s La Mer for good measure.

James Ehnes, a violinist of remarkable elegance, was outstanding in Prokofiev's First Concerto infusing richness to the long, introspective melodic lines.

When Robert DeMaine fell ill, LA Phil got creative by rotating the soloist duties in Zimmermann’s Cello Concerto. 

Czech harpsichord legend Zuzana Růžičková would have turned 91 on 14 January, making it an ideal night for a tribute concert featuring one of her star pupils, Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. As he noted in brief remarks sandwiched between rousing renditions of Bach, “When she died, I lost a great teacher. But this country lost part of its history.

Lars Vogt, Royal Nothern Sinfonia and Chorus and a strong quartet of soloists bring the angelic tidings of peace and goodwill in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.

Dunedin Consort’s band of virtuosi players, four Early music specialist soloists and just four ripieno singers gave a nimble and exquisitely focussed performance of the Christmas Oratorio simply bursting with enjoyment.

This season, the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) is turning its eyes towards Bach, whilst at the same time programming the usual great symphonic repertoire, as well as contemporary composers. Here, Kazushi Ono gathered a Bach concerto (transcribed for violin), a rarely-performed work by Schumann and Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra.

An early Christmas celebration in Budapest, with four of Bach's cantatas from his Christmas Oratorio.

Continuing a decades-long holiday season tradition, the SPCO presents five of Bach's six Brandenburg Concerti in performances brimming with energy and élan.

The Scottish Ensemble is joined by I Fagiolini in a Winter Chorale linking ancient and modern music for Advent and Christmas. 

Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker’s, Jean-Guihen Queyras’ and Rosas’ Mitten wir im Leben sind/Bach6Cellosuiten presented at HAU 1 is a raw but very sleek work on Bach’s milestone of Western music.

The Ulster Orchestra and Rosanne Philippens dazzle in Vaughan Williams and Sibelius under the baton of Jac van Steen.

Sakari Oramo led an inspired BBC Symphony Orchestra in cultured performances of Sibelius, while Lisa Batiashvili produced a monumental UK première of Anders Hillborg’s evocative Violin Concerto No.2.

The Thanksgiving weekend concert conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero, also included a dramatic reading of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Copland’s El Salón México.

Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt: Bach's famous Air proves the highlight of an enjoyable evening of Purcell, Bach and Pergolesi in the magnificent surroundings of Disney Hall.

In Autumn the cicadas are out in force at Wigmore Hall...

Yannick leads Philadelphia Orchestra on spiritual journey throug Bruckner's Eighth Symphony. 

For this program, Sir András Schiff chose only works belonging to composers for whom he feels a real affinity.

Bereft of its guiding light, the orchestra shows resiliency and promise with a familiar face at the podium.